by Ws Greer
“I told you I had no money. The school took everything I had, and my dad had broken my phone before they ever sent me away,” Reina explains. “So once I was on my own, I learned a new trade. I learned how to manipulate people.”
As if a switch has been flipped, Reina sits up straighter and finally looks at me. Her eyes are wet with tears that never fell, but her expression is pure defiance. When she was talking about the boarding school, it was a difficult memory, but now that she’s referring to something afterwards, she’s different. She looks strong and intimidating in my dark bedroom. The lights from the city shine in and plaster shadows to one side of her face, and I can see a feint grin on her lips.
“I met a man named James a week after I left Ecole des Roches,” she goes on, looking me straight in the eye now, more confident than I’ve ever seen her. “He was a bank manager and financial consultant for a big time law firm here in the states, but he did it all from France. He was a multi-millionaire who liked to cheat on his wife when she went out of town on business. We went out on three dinner dates, becoming more flirtatious with each one. I made sure to lead him on. I wanted him to think he had a real shot at an affair with me behind his wife’s back, and he bought every bit of it. The day he tried to sleep with me in a hotel I’d rented, I told him I’d recorded the entire thing and that I’d tell his wife if he didn’t pay me off. He didn’t believe it at first, and left the room in a laughable fuss. The next day, I emailed him a video snippet of the moment he pulled his teeny, tiny, little prick out of his pants in front of me while I sat on the bed, in perfect view of the camera I’d placed in the room two hours before. I told him I had his wife’s email address, and that if he didn’t wire a million dollars to my account in the next hour, I was going to click Send. Forty-three minutes later, I was a millionaire.”
My eyes bulge.
“You blackmailed him out of a million dollars?” I ask, in complete shock.
“Yeah,” Reina answers behind a giggle, her mood quickly perking back up with the story.
“Damn,” I exclaim as I take the champagne bottle from her and swallow a swig of my own. “Okay, then why didn’t you come back after you had all that money?”
“I wasn’t ready yet,” she says, still looking right at me. “Once I had the money, I knew what I wanted to do. It wasn’t enough to blackmail one guy. I needed to make more than just a million if I wanted to have an impact.”
“An impact? An impact on what?”
“Everything,” Reina replies. In her eyes, I see something I’d never seen the entire time we knew each other before she was sent away. Ambition.
Reina looks at me and smiles from ear to ear for the first time, and I feel a tug on my heart. I’d forgotten how gorgeous that smile is, but it’s made even brighter by the look of aspiration I see in her eyes.
“A few weeks after you and I met, you said something to me that I never forgot,” Reina continues as she snatches the bottle of Cristal from me. “You said that one day you’d have everything you’d ever wanted. You told me that the things you’d do to get them wouldn’t be pretty, and that you liked it that way. You said you were gonna be the most feared and respected man in the city. When that money hit my account, I knew I had the power to make that dream come true for myself. Getting the money didn’t make me want to quit and fly back home to my parents, or even to be your trophy girlfriend who needed to depend on you for every dime. Everything I’d been through made me tougher than that. It made me want to take more and more, so that when I did come back, I could change everything. I knew that when I came back, I wanted to be powerful enough to bring the people who’ve hurt me to their knees. Everyone who’s ever done me wrong, or taken advantage of me, I want them all to suffer. So, I stayed and got to work. I started conning people.”
“Are you kidding?” I ask behind a chuckle. “You became a con artist?”
“The best you’ve never seen,” Reina replies, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. “Over the next few years, I conned countless men, a few women, and a few couples. I’ve taken more money from people than I care to count anymore. But I know one thing for sure—I have more money than the first guy I ever conned.”
“Who? James, the multi-millionaire?”
“Uh-huh.”
“How do you know that?”
“Remember I told you James was a bank manager and financial consultant?” Reina asks, and I nod. “The bank he works for is called Natixis, and a year ago, I bought out the owner of the France branch. James works for me now.”
“What the fuck?” I blurt out. I can’t believe what she just said. “You own a bank?”
“Not the entire company. I’m not the CEO of Natixis, but I bought quite a bit of the shares and stock, and I own the branch in France. James works for me as the manager.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” I exclaim as I rush to get out of the bed in pure excitement and shock. “You’re only twenty-two years old!”
“True, but I’m also a Wilde,” Reina says as she looks down at my naked body. She smiles at my length before looking back up at me. “My parents are worth at least three or four billion at this point, and I grew up watching them hustle money. I guess some of it stuck, and I learned a thing or two about investing and acquisition. One thing my dad always said when I was kid was, ‘Make your money work for you.’ My father bought businesses and sat back, watching the profits pile up while he moved on to the next business to acquire. When you’re the owner, the business makes money without you having to show up to work. My parents are sick, twisted, corrupt, vicious people who’ve always treated me like crap for not conforming to their rules. But they’re smart, and soon, they’ll realize that they taught me exactly how to be their worst nightmare.”
As I stand next to the bed with my dick in plain sight, I realize what Reina is saying, and it’s like a slap in the face. For me, making a name for myself and coming up was about getting out of the dirty gutter that was Strawberry Mansion. I wanted to be a big deal and run the criminal world because it was what I was always good at, as if I was born to be bad. For Reina, it was about leaving a life that she felt she wasn’t supposed to be a part of. She wanted to be like me, but she was trapped in her parents’ world. So when she went to France and her parents cut her off, she decided to come up as well. She decided she would grow up to be even bigger than her parents, and she had one thing in mind the entire time. Revenge.
“You want to take over your parents’ business,” I say, my look of excitement replaced by a hunger I’ve never felt before as her plan becomes clear to me. The whole time I was dreaming about being big, Reina was dreaming about being even bigger. Her ambitions have far surpassed my own.
“I want us to be king and queen,” she replies, “of everything.”
I smile as wide as my face can manage as I jump back into the bed and kiss Reina on the mouth. After all this time, I was becoming the king, and my woman was becoming the queen. Now it’s time for us to rule together!
“Okay, so how do we start?” I ask. “Let’s not waste any time. Tell me what to do, Reina, and we’ll go after your parents starting first thing in the morning.”
“No,” Reina answers. She places a hand on my cheek and rubs my face, staring into my eyes. “It’s not just about them, Solomon. It’s about us.
“When I came back to Philly, the first thing I wanted to do was find you, so I started digging, and when I finally tracked you down after three months of trying, I also found out that you were about to go to war with the Scarfo family. People talk. When I heard the Scarfo family was about to come after you, I decided to step in. That’s how I met Dante.”
I don’t even know what to say at this point. It’s like she’s become a criminal mastermind, I just stare at her in awe as she goes on.
“Dante’s wife died two years ago, and he’s known for getting around and courting younger women these days. So, I put myself in his path on purpose, so I could learn about him and his businesses. I wanted to
come back to you, but more than that, I wanted to help you. Now, I know everything about Dante Rossi and his dealings. I know exactly how to get rid of him and the entire mafia in Philly.”
“But you’re putting yourself at risk being inside like that. If he finds out you’re conning him, he’ll kill you, and I won’t be able to take that,” I say.
“I don’t care about the danger,” she answers as she scoots closer to me. “It’s about us, Solomon. When Arthur wrote the word Monster on my arm, it meant something much different to him than it did to me. I remember not being able to get the letters off after I’d scrubbed so hard, and it made me sick at first. But after a while, I liked it. I embraced it. I realized that I am a monster, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am what they made me. I’m a monster, and you’re my beast, Solomon. You’re the only one I belong with, and just like I showed Arthur the day I stabbed him, no one can handle me but you.
“We’re soulmates—two peas in a pod, and together, no one can stop us. Not Dante Rossi, and not my parents. Together, we can make them all pay, we can make them all bow to us. So we need to do it one step at a time.”
“And the first step is Dante,” I say, finishing her sentence for her. “We take the mob out first, then we step up to something bigger.”
“Wilde Inc.,” Reina says now, filling in the rest for me just before finishing off the rest of the Cristal with a big gulp.
“Wow,” I say to her, rubbing my hand through her golden hair. “Who would’ve thought that you’d end up just as twisted as me after all this time apart? I love it, Reina. I love you.”
Reina stops moving. She stares at me with her eyes wide just as a smile spreads across her mouth.
“That’s the first time you’ve ever said that to me,” she says, her voice shaking with emotion.
“I’ve always loved you, Reina,” I reply. “You know that.”
“I did, but hearing you say it is another thing entirely. It means everything.” Reina leans over and kisses me gently on the lips. Here, in this moment, sitting in darkness, our bond is made stronger than ever. We’re inseparable now. As our lips touch, it erases the last seven years. It’s as if we were never apart. Our hearts have been together the whole time.
After our kiss, Reina and I lay down in the bed together. She rests her head on my chest and rubs my stomach while I look out the window and go back to my cigar, puffing smoke up to the ceiling, feeling every bit like a true king.
“So,” I say. “Whatever happened to Charlie?”
I hear her hesitate before clearing her throat and answering.
“He became CFO of Wilde Inc.,” she replies. “He helps run the business with my father now.”
I sense something in the way Reina speaks when it comes to Charlie, but I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something about him that bothers her. I’m not one to mince words, so I ask her.
“What is it, Reina? You obviously don’t like talking about Charlie. So, what is it? Is there something else I need to know about all of this?”
Reina stops rubbing my skin for a second, before clearing her throat and starting up again.
“In due time, my love,” she says, more confident now. “All in due time.”
“WHERE ARE YOU going?”
I try to blink away the brightness shining into the loft through the big window, but it’s a struggle as I wake up to find Reina standing in front of the bed, buttoning up one of my shirts. Her blonde hair has waves leftover from last night, and she looks like she’s getting ready to leave.
“I have to get back to my place so I can change clothes. I have a date,” Reina replies behind a smile. Even in my shirt, she’s truly stunning, but I’m fuming on the inside.
“A date?” I ask, even though I already know where this is going.
“Yes,” she answers as if nothing’s wrong with her going on a date with someone else after the night we had together.
“With?” I ask.
“Dante, of course.”
Heat begins to brew in my stomach and quickly climb up my body and into my limbs as I think about Dante being with Reina. I could snap right now, but I won’t go there. Not with Reina.
“Dante,” I state. “Now maybe I’m a little crazy, but perhaps you should remind me why you’d be going on a date with Dante after last night.”
“Why wouldn’t I be going on a date with Dante after last night? It seems to be that’s exactly what I should be doing.”
I sit up in bed and lean back on the headboard, spotting the bottle of Cristal from last night lying on the hardwood floor. I think to take a sip, but I know Reina and I emptied it. Damn it.
“Reina,” I say, trying to sound calm. “Do you remember what I was like when we were teenagers?”
Reina smiles and nods. “Of course I do.”
“Right. Then you know I don’t do well when it comes to sharing.”
“You’re not sharing me, Solomon,” Reina replies as she begins walking to my side of the bed and sits down next to me. “We discussed this, my love. I’m conning Dante. That’s all this date is—a con. We planned this a week ago, and I can’t cancel just like that, otherwise, he might know something’s up.”
“So you’re gonna keep seeing him? Sleeping with him?” I feel rage burning a hole in my stomach and takes everything to hold it in.
“I’m not sleeping with him!” Reina snaps, her brows curving into a deep furrow. “We’ve been seeing each other on and off for almost three months now, but we have never slept together. I don’t even let Dante drive me home. When we go on dates, we show up separately, and we leave the same way.”
“Really?”
“Like I said last night, I’m the best at this, Solomon. I’m good at reading people and seeing what makes them tick—what they want. When it comes to men like Dante, they enjoy the hunt. Women who give it up too quick get dropped in a hurry. Women like me, who make them wait and work for even the smallest taste of affection, we’re the ones these guys keep chasing. He likes chasing, and he thinks I like being chased. That’s how it has to stay, at least for today.”
“What’s after today?” I ask, honing in on that last part.
“After today, I think I’ll have all the info you’ll need to make a move on Dante,” Reina says, her face completely serious and focused. “Dante has something big coming up, something I think you could use to your advantage. But, there’s still some details I need—times and dates. I know where he’ll be, but I need to know when he’ll be there. Once I get that info, you use it to hit him in a way he’ll never recover from. If we do it right, he’ll be finished, and that means the entire family will be finished.”
“You seem awfully confident in that,” I say, holding back a smile.
It’s incredible to see Reina grown up and outsmarting men. Even after seven years, I feel a sense of pride, because she grew into this unstoppable force without any help from me, and now here she is, telling me what’s going to go down. It’s honestly the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.
“I’m confident in it because I know it,” Reina replies, grinning. “Through my time with Dante, I’ve learned a lot about what’s going on in the Scarfo family. I know where their strengths and weaknesses are, and I know how fragile the leadership is at the top, which means the whole thing is fragile.”
“You have my attention,” I reply, adjusting in the bed to make myself more comfortable.
“The most feared man in the Scarfo family isn’t Angelo Scarfo anymore,” Reina says. “It’s Dante Rossi. The reason is because everyone knows he’s about to be the boss soon, and he’s the one who’s basically running the entire show now. Angelo Scarfo is seventy-one years old, and is slowly dying from pancreatic cancer. Everyone in the family knows that, and as a result of that diagnosis, Angelo has started delegating virtually everything down to his underboss and consigliere. Dante is taking over rackets left and right, trying to really build up his capital so that when he ascends to
the top spot soon, he’ll have the money to buy off everybody he needs to pay off. He wants the big names: judges, police chiefs, governors, senators, mayors. He’s trying to bring the mob back to life in Philly, because it’s not as strong as it was in its heyday.
“So, if you destroy Dante in the middle of his ascension, it’ll ruin the family. Dante is set to become the next boss, and Tony will be the next underboss. You get rid of those two, and Philadelphia will be yours to run. Nobody would dare challenge you, Solomon. So, I need you to trust that I can get the information you need. I have to go on this date, and I have to play the part. I have to be the character he expects me to be. So you gotta let me work, because I got this. Okay?”
I let Reina’s words settle in my head and play again on repeat. She’s definitely educated on the topic, but the reason I feel hesitant isn’t because of how much she does or doesn’t know. I feel hesitant because she’s been gone for so long and suddenly shows up ready to hand me the keys to the city while still hanging on the arm of Dante Rossi. I love this woman, but can I trust her? She said herself that she’s the best con artist I’ve never seen. Is she conning me? I guess we’ll see, and I’ll keep my favorite box cutter handy, just in case.
“Reina, you know I love you, right?” I ask, to which Reina replies with a nod of her head. “Good. Then you know how bummed I’d be if I had to kill you for lying to me about this. I’d hate to do it, and I’d probably hate myself for the rest of my life, but if you’re playing me with all of this, you know what’ll happen.”
I expect her to frown or move away in fear, but instead, Reina smiles and places a hand on my rugged cheek.
“I’d expect nothing less from you, Solomon,” she says. “That’s why we’re meant to be together, because if you’d let anyone get away with lying to you about something like this, you wouldn’t be worthy of me.”
Reina kisses me softly on the cheek before standing up, straightening out the shirt she’s borrowing from me, and walking towards the stairs. When she reaches the top step, she stops and turns around.